Nonetheless, Arafeh says she plans to move to Toronto when her year of private sponsorship is up. As a professional interpreter, there are job opportunities in Toronto that don't exist in Halifax.

She says her children are resilient when it comes to having to relocate again.

"These kids I don't know what they're made of. Diamond maybe," she says.

New Brunswick has resettled more refugees per capita than any other province.

About five per cent of Syrian refugees who have settled in New Brunswick this year have left the province and those moves can be hard for the people who sponsor them, according to Janet Hunt. She's part of a welcome team with the YMCA helping government-assisted Syrian families settle in and around Saint John.

Three of the families Hunt helped support have left New Brunswick hoping to find job opportunities. But one special family decided to try for one more year mostly because of their close connection to Hunt.

"We've become more than friends," Hunt tells Tremonti. "We've become this extended family to each other."

Since last January, settlement agencies estimate that 500 families have moved to Windsor, Ont., from other parts of Canada — the majority are Syrian.